


I Am Cold, Unfeeling, And [odd]

by ShippingEverything



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, the forest of the nightmare king
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23435380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShippingEverything/pseuds/ShippingEverything
Summary: hope you’re okay / at least i gave you something to hateSometimes, the right path is the one that's hardest to take. Aelwyn Abernant has never put much stock in doing the "right" thing.
Relationships: Adaine Abernant & Aelwen Abernant, The Abernant Family
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	I Am Cold, Unfeeling, And [odd]

**Author's Note:**

> *points at aelwyn* is anyone gonna project on that or-
> 
> anyway here's a Quick Drabble squeezed in right before fh finale part 1, which means its almost certainly going to be buried. c'est la vie! i just think a lot abt aelwyn "it's better to just do as they say" abernant and i Had to publish at least one fic about her before the season ended, espeicially after that fireside chat conversation that brennan and siobhan had about the concept of redemption and aelwyn.
> 
> minor warning that there are some lines that come off as aelwyn being pretty dismissive of adaine’s anxiety, which i think is pretty canon compliant, but still! sucks! 
> 
> title from julia nunes' _Odd_ , which i've decided is a great aelwyn song

The thing that Adaine doesn’t understand, that she’s _never_ understood, is that the path of least resistance is often the best one. So what if their parents were distant and cold and hard to please? Plenty of parents are like that, nearly everyone that Adaine and Aelwyn grew up with had parents like that; it’s simply the price of being raised in high society. _Sometimes_ you just have to learn how to deal with it, _Adaine_. You have to step up to challenges rather than folding like a child, and you have to focus on growing your skills and abilities on your own, _Adaine_. You have to stop talking back and stop whining and just _do as you’re told_ for _once_ , _Adaine_.

Aelwyn, skin chilled and hands shaking in the Nightmare King’s forest, frowns to herself. Ahead of her, her parents are snapping at each other about the best way to do the fear ritual.

Sometimes, she reflects, doing what you’re told means not asking questions when your mother presses a potion that smells of cloyingly bitter herbs into your hands, it means licking the metallic taste from your teeth as you down it in a single gulp and not startling when a Tabaxi woman appears in the space between your mother and you. Aelwyn had done as she was asked, she’d dealt with that idiot of a dragon and his vapid little beauty queen, with the religious freaks and the lecherous nerds -- the parties had been the only vaguely enjoyable part, besides when she got to invent her own spell. Despite it all, she had done as they had asked and-

_(“Nobody deserves this.” “This is barbaric.” “Yes, I'm here to rescue you.”)_

Aelwyn clears her throat. No one notices.

She had done as they asked and now she was in this forest, almost to her reward. It wasn't any of her concern what her mother or the Shadowcat wanted with the Nightmare King. The only thing that matters to Aelwyn, that has _ever_ mattered to Aelwyn, is forward motion; she’s going to do what she’s told and get through this and follow the path of least resistance until it leads her to the glory-laced freedom she’s always wanted.

Because Adaine _doesn’t fucking get it_ , but it’s so much better to just do what they ask. Especially when you’re good at it.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so so much for reading! i believe in all of you (spring break!) and hope you have a wonderful finale-days! 
> 
> comments, kudos, bookmarks, etc warm my heart!
> 
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